HARLINGEN — He radioed his final 10-42 pulling up to police headquarters as a commander of the force.

“Throwing that last 10-42 was the scariest thing I’ve ever done,” Harlingen police Commander Narciso Noyola said, referring to the “off duty” code. “I will never use the radio again or turn on my lights again.”

What awaited the commander were officers with drawn swords forming a tunnel for him to pass through. It was all to honor his 30 years of service to the force.

“It was the longest walk,” Noyola said. “It felt like a mile even though it was only like 50 feet.”

The sounds of “Scotland the Brave” played on the bagpipes by the Brownsville Firefighters Pipes and Drums set the tone of the engagement.

At the end of the tunnel stood his wife Becky, family and friends waiting to congratulate him and wish him well.

Six years earlier Noyola helped come up with the idea of the Tunnel Honoring Our Retirees.

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